This is great feedback Adam.

I like the fact that the Room Kit mini operates as a USB camera so that you can 
plug it into your PC and use it with any software based solution. I'm hoping 
this plug and play option will be available with other Room Kit models soon.

I'm realizing that the CMR equivalent that supports SIP dialing is not an 
automatic thing with other solutions. And those are expensive to add. Case in 
point, SIP endpoint dialing support for Teams is provided by a third party 
partner and can cost around $2500/year per endpoint.

There are some up and coming vendor agnostic solutions that we're keeping an 
eye on. Some require a PC, some do not.

I tested out Solaborate Hello2 and had high hopes, but they disappointed on 
several levels. Most importantly, although they advertise 4K _everywhere_ it 
seems they have not worked with vendors to make sure the android apps they run 
recognize HD camera input. Webex was maxed out to 360p. Same for Jabber. They 
had no interest in resolving this issue, saying it was the vendors fault, not 
theirs. I tried working with their live support but they pointed to policy. 
Yikes. Missed opportunity there for sure.

One department has tried out https://www.owllabs.com/ 360 degree camera. They 
seem to like it. I'm going to try it out with Webex when I have some time.


---
Lelio Fulgenzi, B.A. | Senior Analyst
Computing and Communications Services | University of Guelph
Room 037 Animal Science & Nutrition Bldg | 50 Stone Rd E | Guelph, ON | N1G 2W1
519-824-4120 Ext. 56354 | [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

www.uoguelph.ca/ccs<http://www.uoguelph.ca/ccs> | @UofGCCS on Instagram, 
Twitter and Facebook

[University of Guelph Cornerstone with Improve Life tagline]

From: cisco-voip <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Pawlowski, 
Adam
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 8:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [cisco-voip] room kits - smartnet or not?

Our telepresence "pilot" or build out pretty much flat lined due to perceived 
demand to support Zoom, GoToWhatever, etc in spaces where we'd install this 
equipment which is not reasonably possible without added expense. Vaddio/Extron 
usb bridges added too much cost, and the room kit mini is not suitable to most 
spaces.

That being said we would work with the customer to ensure they are ordering 
first-party, and not amazon grey market. We would put it on the customer to 
maintain smartnet or budget to replace the device as needed. We would also have 
a conversation regarding the longevity of this equipment. Once it is no longer 
supported by Cisco and no longer received software update, we would no longer 
support the equipment.

That is a departure from PC based peripherals that sit behind a PC and are "not 
our problem", and from the way we've treated the IP Phones in the past. This 
sets up the stage for a reasonable expectation that the customer can budget to 
replace it, or not - but it has a limited lifespan so we are not sucked into 
something where we can't upgrade due to an endpoint having been installed in a 
"critical" area with no money to replace it.

Conference telephones are similar, they're expensive and we consider them 
one-time special order. We don't offer a smartnet purchase on them, as they've 
historically not been an issue, but we do not allow anyone to order the 
equipment other than ourselves so we do not have to deal with trying to support 
half broken used equipment, grey market, or stolen parts.

Adam


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